As a digital publisher, it’s essential to understand the importance of SEO and how you can use SEO metrics to track your success.
By tracking these key performance indicators, you can gain valuable insights into how well your content is performing, what areas need improvement and where your focus should be when creating new content.
Knowing which SEO metrics are most important for publishers will help you make informed decisions about optimizing your website for better search engine rankings and more traffic.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most important SEO metrics that publishers should track in order to maximize their online presence.
Position Rankings on Search Engines
One of the most important SEO metrics to track is your search engine rankings. This metric tells you how well your content is doing when compared to other websites.
Knowing where your website ranks can give you insight into how effective your SEO efforts have been, what areas need improvement and if there are any changes that need to be made in order for you to achieve higher rankings.
It’s also important to keep an eye on the competition; understanding their strategies can help you stay one step ahead of them.
How to check your position rankings?
Source: SEMRush
Using specialized tools like SEMrush or Google Search Console are great ways to check website position rankings. With SEMrush, you can easily track your website’s performance and determine where it ranks for specific keywords.
The tool provides detailed reports on organic search results, keyword research and competitive analysis.
You can also track changes in ranking over time and see what impact each of your SEO efforts have had on your search engine visibility.
Google Search Console is another great option for tracking website positioning rankings. It provides insights into how your site performs in the organic search engine results pages (SERPs) and allows you to compare your performance against competitors.
The tool includes detailed data about impressions, clicks, average click-through rate (CTR), average position, and other SEO metrics that can help you better understand how users are engaging with your content online.
Additionally, Google Search Console also gives you the ability to submit sitemaps, check for indexing errors, monitor manual actions taken by Google against your site, and much more.
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic refers to visitors who arrive at a website through unpaid search engine results (Google, Bing, Yahoo, and many more) rather than paid advertising campaigns or direct visits from other sites like social networks or referral links.
Tracking organic traffic can tell you how well your content is resonating with audiences, as well as where they’re coming from and what keywords they searched for. This data can be used to inform your content strategy, helping you determine which topics are more popular than others and which channels are driving the most traffic to your site.
To measure your organic traffic, there are a variety of platforms available such as Google Analytics, SEMRush, Ahrefs, and many more. These tools provide detailed reports on organic search results, keyword research and competitive analysis to help you understand how users are engaging with your content online.
Tracking Organic Traffic based on location
Another important SEO metric to consider is tracking organic traffic based on location. This will give you a better understanding of how well your content is performing in different regions and countries around the world. It can also help you identify areas where your content needs to be optimized for local search results.
Tools like Google Analytics and SEMRush provide detailed reports on organic search results, that also includes the location of the users that read your content, the average time spent and also conversion rate.
Additionally, they can help you understand how users are engaging with your content online by providing insights into what regions are driving the most traffic to your site.
How To Find Organic Traffic in Google Analytics
Search engines can monitor organic traffic through Google Analytics and it’s quite simple. The most simple way to see the stats is in Acquisition tab.
The organic search statistics in the Acquisition Report show metrics such as session numbers, the number of new users, bounces, average session length for search traffic and target conversions.
This data may further be separated by various dimensions such as traffic sources and landing pages.
Monitoring Exit Rates
Exit rates are another important SEO metric that all digital publishers should monitor and track. It is a measure of how often users leave your website after viewing only one page, i.e., they don’t visit any other pages on your site. This can be an indication of poor content or a user experience issue with the website which needs to be addressed.
Tools such as Google Analytics and SEMRush provide insights into exit rates from both organic and direct traffic sources. This can be used to understand how well your content is resonating with audiences, as well as which pages are causing visitors to leave the site after viewing only one page.
By tracking these SEO metrics, digital publishers can better understand their content performance and make strategic decisions to improve the success of their content. This includes optimizing content for local search results as well as identifying pages that are causing visitors to leave the site after viewing only one page.
Click-Through Rate
Click-through rate (CTR) indicates how successful a particular page or post is in attracting visitors to click on it. Having an effective CTR can make all the difference when it comes to getting people to read and engage with your content.
Pay attention to this metric so that you can identify pages that need improvement or optimization and adjust accordingly. It’s also important to note that the higher your CTR, the more likely it is that search engines will rank your content higher in SERPs.
Search Visibility
Search visibility is a metric that measures how easy it is to find a particular website or page in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
It is a key factor for understanding if your content is reaching your target audience. For example, tracking the number of times your content appears on search engine results pages (SERPs) can help you determine the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.
If you have a high presence on SERPs, then more people are likely to click on your content and learn more about it. Additionally, tracking how many times impressions are made with an eye on the average position of these impressions will show you how well users are engaging with your content.
Having a high search visibility can result in increased organic traffic, higher click-through rates and better rankings on search engines. Additionally, tracking this metric can give publishers an idea of which keywords bring in the most visitors and help them develop more targeted content strategies.
Organic Conversion Rate
Organic conversion rate is an important metric for digital publishers to measure the success of their content. It measures how many visitors who land on a page or post actually take action and convert into paying customers, subscribers, or leads.
This metric can help publishers identify which pages are more effective in driving conversions and where they need to focus their efforts in order to maximize results.
Organic conversion rate can be found in tools like Google Analytics and other analytics platforms that provide detailed reports on website performance. Knowing your organic conversion rate will enable you to make better-informed decisions about what content works best with your audience and optimize accordingly.
Tracking Keywords Ranked in Google
One of MagLoft’s blog page ranked first for the keyword “pixel perfect responsive design”
Tracking keyword rankings in Google is an important part of any successful SEO strategy.
Knowing which keywords are ranking on your website can help you understand how well your content is performing, identify opportunities for improvement and optimize accordingly. With the right tools and processes, tracking keyword rankings in Google can be a straightforward process.
Google Search Console is one of the most popular platforms for tracking keyword rankings in Google. It allows you to monitor how your website is performing in search engine results and identify opportunities for improvement.
Average position of MagLoft for keyword “best online magazine” in Google Search Console
In addition to keyword tracking, Google Search Console gives you access to data about internal links, crawl errors, site speed, structured data, indexing status and more. With this comprehensive information available at your fingertips, you can better understand how well your content is performing on search engine results pages (SERPs).
For an even more detailed look at keyword performance, you can use tools like Ahrefs that provide SEO metrics such as keyword difficulty score, search volume and estimated visits per month for each keyword or phrase. This kind of data helps you identify which terms are most likely to result in conversions and make informed decisions about the content that should be prioritized within a given target audience.
Overall, tracking keywords in Google with platforms like Google Search Console and Ahrefs can give digital publishers valuable insights into their content’s performance so they can optimize their SEO strategies accordingly.
Backlinks and Referring Domains
For digital publishers looking to increase their visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), off-page SEO such as backlinks and referring domains are essential.
Backlinks are links that direct users from one website to another, while referring domains refer to the number of websites linking back to a particular page or post. By building up these SEO metrics, digital publishers can improve their rankings on SERPs and attract more organic traffic.
Backlinks are an essential component for digital publishers looking to increase their search engine visibility. Search engines use backlinks as a factor in determining how relevant and authoritative a website is, so having a variety of high-quality backlinks can boost your rankings on SERPs.
Additionally, having multiple referring domains can help increase a page’s visibility by signaling to search engines that the content is trusted and has been referenced by several sources.
How to Track Backlinks and Referring Domains
Fortunately, tracking backlinks and referring domains is relatively straightforward with the right tools and processes. Backlink monitoring platforms like Ahrefs allow you to see which websites are linking back to your website or a specific page or post.
In addition to showing which websites are linking back, these services also provide data such as the anchor text used, the number of referring domains and link type, which can be useful in determining the quality of backlinks.
Tracking these metrics can give digital publishers valuable insights into their off-page SEO efforts and help them optimize accordingly.
Page Speed and Web Core Vitals
Page speed and web core vitals are important SEO metrics that digital publishers need to track in order to understand how successful their content is. Measuring these metrics can help you identify opportunities for improvement and optimize accordingly for better user experience and search engine rankings.
Page speed is the amount of time it takes for a page to load, from when a user clicks on the link until the content is fully displayed on the device.
How to measure Page Speed and Web Core Vitals?
It can be measured by using tools such as Pingdom, GTmetrix, or Google PageSpeed Insights. The faster your page loads, the more likely it is that users will stay on your page and take action rather than clicking away in frustration.
Web core vitals measure certain aspects of user experience such as loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability of a page.
These metrics include:
- First Input Delay (FID), which measures how long it takes for a user’s first interaction with your content to be processed
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures how quickly your page’s main content has been loaded
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures any unexpected layout shifts when loading the page
- Total Blocking Time (TBT), which measures how long it takes for a page to become interactive after loading.
By tracking these metrics, digital publishers can identify opportunities for improvement and make sure their pages are optimized for optimal user experience.
Measuring page speed and web core vitals are key components of SEO success for digital publishers, as they provide detailed insights into how well their content is performing on search engines.
Number of pages indexed
Another important SEO metric for digital publishers to track is the number of pages indexed by search engines. This SEO metrics refers to the total number of pages on a website that have been discovered and added to a search engine’s index.
Having more pages indexed by search engines can help improve visibility, as it increases the chances that your content will be displayed prominently on SERPs.
Digital publishers can track their pages indexed using Google Search Console, which provides a detailed overview of the number of pages indexed by Google.
How to know if your digital publication website is being indexed properly?
In order to determine if your digital publication website is being indexed properly, you can use tools such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics.
Google Search Console provides detailed insights on how many pages indexed by Google, any errors encountered while indexing, and how much traffic each page has received from search engines.
If you find that it takes an unusually long for your pages to get indexed, you can always submit them manually using the Crawl > Fetch as Google option in the Search Console. Again, if you find that a small percentage of your submitted pages are indexed, you might need to manually request indexing via the Search Console.
Robot.txt is a file that tells search engines if they are allowed to index and crawl certain pages on your website. If you have a robot.txt file on your website, it will help search engines know which pages to include in their index so people can find them when searching online.
Enabling robots.txt on your digital publication is crucial if you want to expand your readership and generate more traffic. However, if your publication is meant for internal communication only and you don’t want it to be discovered by audiences outside of your company, disabling robots.txt can help achieve that.
With MagLoft’s Universal App, you don’t have to manually submit a request to Google. You can easily toggle it on or off in your UA Admin.
Engagement Metrics
Engagement metrics measure how engaged a user is with the content they are reading on a website. It is an important SEO metrics for digital publishers because it indicates how well their content resonates with readers and provides valuable insights into reader behavior.
On-page and Off-page Engagement to Measure your SEO Metrics
Engagement metrics can be divided into two key categories: on-page engagement and off-page engagement. On-page engagement metrics include things like average time spent on the page, pages per session, bounce rate, scroll depth, and click-through rate. These measures help publishers track how users interact with their content while they’re still on the site.
Off-page engagement metrics look at how users are engaging with your content after they leave your website. These measures include things such as social media shares, comments, and backlinks from other sites that reference your content. By tracking these two important SEO metrics publishers can determine which posts have been most successful in terms of reader interaction and reach.
It’s important to note that these metrics should be taken into account when analyzing SEO performance as well since search engines take user engagement into account when ranking websites in search results pages (SERPs). The more engaged users are with a webpage, the better its chances are of appearing higher up on SERPs – which will lead to more organic traffic for digital publishers.
Measuring engagement metrics can give digital publishers an insight into which pieces of content perform best so they can prioritize them accordingly. Additionally, monitoring these two SEO metrics to track over time helps identify areas for improvement and inform decisions about which topics to focus on in future pieces of content.
To summarize..
These are just some of the SEO metrics that digital publishers should track in order to understand their content’s success and maximize their online presence.
By staying informed on these SEO metrics, digital publishers can stay one step ahead of the competition and ensure they’re doing all they can to be successful. It’s important to remember that tracking isn’t enough; analysis is key in order to turn data into actionable insights. With consistent monitoring and careful analysis, digital publishers will be able to optimize their content and achieve better search engine rankings.
As a professional publisher, it’s important to know which SEO metrics to monitor for your digital publishing. However, for beginners, it can be quite intimidating. Fortunately, Magloft has got you covered with its analytics dashboard feature. Simply connect your GA4 to the universal app, and you’ll be able to measure your digital publication traffic easily.
If you found this blog post helpful and would like to explore how we can help you achieve your publishing goals, let’s schedule a call! We’re always happy to chat with fellow publishers and discuss how we can collaborate for a win-win solution.
